Boston Bruins' Shawn Thornton (22) and Buffalo Sabres' Christian Ehrhoff (10) battle for the puck in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, April 12, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Under the new NHL playoff setup, there’s technically no such thing as a No. 1-No. 8 matchup anymore. While the system has confused some, in the case of the Boston Bruins’ first-round meeting with the Red Wings, the new "top seed vs. second wild card" designation may be more appropriate, because while the Bruins have been the undisputed kings of the East over the regular season, Detroit would have been an uncommonly dangerous 8 seed.

While they squeaked into their 23rd consecutive postseason appearance, tying Columbus with 91 points in the regular season, the Red Wings were hit harder than any team except the Penguins by injuries this year. They’re getting healthy again now, and while the Bruins are favored, the Wings have the talent to give them a fight.

Last time these two teams met in the playoffs, Dwight Eisenhower was president and Bruins coach Claude Julien had not been born. The Original Six foes saw plenty of each other in the playoffs in the league’s early years, with the Bruins going 19-14 all-time against Detroit, but they haven’t met since 1957. In more recent history, the Red Wings won the season series this year 3-1.

FORWARDS

Boston: The Bruins have one of the deepest forward groups in the league. While none of the B’s contended for the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer, Patrice Bergeron and Jarome Iginla both scored 30 goals. Center David Krejci has proved an ideal setup man for Iginla, tallying 50 assists on the top line with the former Flame and Milan Lucic.

Any team that can afford to play Loui Eriksson, who has averaged north of 25 goals in his healthy seasons, on the third line is doing all right up front. Eriksson, Carl Soderberg and Chris Kelly form a strong third line with more offensive upside than most team’s bottom-six forwards. Kelly has battled injuries recently, but the Bruins haven't ruled out him returning for Game 1.

Detroit: Franchise faces Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg both missed almost half the season, but Datsyuk returned in the season’s final weeks and looks to be at full strength, and Zetterberg practiced Thursday with an eye toward a return in the next week or two. It seems unlikely he’ll be back in this series, but if it goes six or seven, the Swede could be a late factor. Datsyuk, an elite-two way talent, may be used to help contain either of the Bruins' top two lines.

With those two key forwards hurt, 24-year-old Gustav Nyquist broke out, scoring 28 goals in 57 games after coming up from the AHL in late November. 23-year-old Tomas Tatar also chipped in up front with 19 goals. The Wings make the Bruins look like an explosive offensive team – aside from Nyquist, nobody cracked 20 goals – but they do have a crop of talented young players who have contributed as the year has gone on.

DEFENSEMEN

Boston: Zdeno Chara is still one of the league’s elite defensemen at 37, and he and Dougie Hamilton have formed a strong top pair, though Julien has said his pairings might change in the playoffs depending on matchups.

Hamilton and Torey Krug are young but skilled puck-movers, and Hamilton’s defensive play has improved notably this year. Dennis Seidenberg is not expected to return from his midseason knee injury, but the Bruins have coped with his absence well so far. Johnny Boychuk and Matt Bartkowski are a solid second pair.

Detroit: The Wings will be hurt by the loss of Jonathan Ericsson, who has a broken finger and is unlikely to return in the series. That puts a heavy load on Niklas Kronwall, who’s known for his punishing hits but has been just average defensively this year while tying for the team lead with 49 points. Brendan Smith, older brother of the Bruins’ Reilly, will be called on to step up on the first pairing with Kronwall.

The third defensive pairing of Jakub Kindl and Brian Lashoff has struggled and hasn’t seen much time against top competition, creating a matchup the Bruins may try to exploit.

GOALTENDING

Boston: In net, the Bruins have an edge over not just the Red Wings, but arguably every team in the league. Tuukka Rask has been outstanding, leading all starters in both save percentage (.930) and even-strength save percentage (.941), which gives a clearer picture of a goalie’s true performance. While he does play behind a strong defensive team that gives up fewer quality scoring chances than most, Rask has been outstanding in his own right.

Detroit: Jimmy Howard had a down season as the Wings’ starter, suffering a few injuries that cost him time and performing inconsistently when he did get on the ice, to the tune of a .910 save percentage. To keep the Wings in the series, he’ll need to return to the form he showed in the previous two seasons.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Boston: Last year the Bruins made it to the Cup Finals in spite of their subpar power play, which had just a 14.8 percent success rate. This year it’s the third best in the league, converting 21.7 percent of the time, and a big part of that change has been the decision to put Chara in front of the net to screen goalies with the man advantage. The penalty kill has also been strong, with an 83.6 percent success rate.

Detroit: The Wings’ power play is 18th-best in the league, with a 17.7 percent success rate. Their penalty kill has been better, just barely trailing the Bruins’ with an 83 percent success rate. Having Datsyuk back should help boost the power play.

OVERALL: If both teams play their best, this is the Bruins’ series. Anything can happen in the tiny sample that is the postseason – lesser goalies than Jimmy Howard have gotten hot and stolen series, key injuries have derailed teams, etc. – but the Bruins’ depth, coupled with an elite goalie, should stand them in good stead here. Bruins in 6.